Day 11:

Avonlea Headden, 18
District 4 Female

Holy fucking crap.

I'm in the final four.

I didn't sleep much last night when it was my turn to get some shut-eye, my brain was too consumed with the fact I've made it this far to properly relax. I know it's real, but it doesn't feel real.

"Who do you think is left?" I ask Olympia as we eat breakfast: each of us has one of the donuts we were sponsored. I know I shouldn't really be eating something so sugary for breakfast, but I think I've earned it at this point. One little treat won't kill me.

Olympia counts something on her fingers. "If I've kept track properly, then it's just the girl from Three left. Plus us, obviously. And…" She heaves a loud sigh. "...Arietis."

"Right," I murmur, feeling any excitement or joy I had left immediately fade. Olympia senses my nerves and frowns. But I know she's thinking the same thing as me. Neither of us wants to fight Arietis. He's the frontrunner for a reason. He's strong, which is obvious, but I know he's never had a high opinion of me either. He won't hesitate to kill me when presented with the chance. I don't know if I can say the same when faced with my greatest enemy.

Then there's the elephant in the room. The Gamemakers won't allow two Victors. If we're in the final two together, we will have to face each other eventually. If I was a little closer to her, then maybe it would tear me up inside. And it does feel a bit shady to do, since I know we've been through quite a bit together. But then again, she was always closer to Prism than me, and I'm the one who killed them. So maybe she's been holding that against me this whole time?

"I have an idea," I say suddenly.

Olympia looks up at me in surprise, but doesn't respond.

"Let's go find the others." I feel my heart pound but I stay as confident as I can in my words. "We stand the best chance against Arietis if we take him on together. The girl from 3 as well, but I think she'll pose less of a problem than Arietis. What do you say?"

"I think that's smart," Olympia agrees a bit too quickly for my unliking. Once again, there's a question left unsaid but looms in the air. I wait for a few seconds, not really excited to bring it up, but clearly Olympia isn't either.

You know what, it's fine. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. She knows it's not in her best interest to kill me now when Arietis is still out there. That makes me feel…powerful. I'm not weak. I never was. I'm just as lethal as any old tribute from 4.

It just was in my head, wasn't it? The biggest obstacle in my way was me.

My steps echo in the hallway as I let its darkness swallow me up. I'm not a little kid anymore, but I've never been able to shake off how unnerving the dark is. It always feels like my mind is playing tricks on me, convincing me something is lurking in the shadows when I know that's just dumb.

Well yeah, there is stuff out there. Mutts and tributes. One I'd rather come across over the other. I just pray that the Gamemakers are either feeling a bit merciful or excited at a potential confrontation, and the snakes understand the message.

My stomach churns and I want to vomit. I force that feeling down. I cannot afford to get nervous now. I'm so close to winning and Victors never win by letting their anxieties get the better of them. I know what must be done and I'm going to do it, no matter what.

This is what's motivating me; savouring the chance to be my own boss for once. I don't want to be afraid anymore. I want to take control for once instead of letting things pass me by because I was too shy or scared. Either I make it to the end, or I die trying.

Is it just me, or is the hallway changing colour? Lights in the floor I wasn't able to see until now suddenly appear, blinking a deep red. God, these hallways are long, but I know what message the Gamemakers are trying to send me. My wish has been granted and the stage has been set. I wanted a battle? I got one.

There's no backing down now.

Arietis Rammestien, 18
District 2 Male

I'm painfully used to being on my own. The trainers at the Academy may have sheltered me when I ran from home, but they did the bare minimum as caretakers. The rest was all me. I spent years in my parents' house having to take care of myself because they were horrible people, and I had to build my reputation from the ground up. I had to prove that I'd take no shit, that I wasn't somebody to be messed with.

Losing an ally sucks, but I know I have to move on. It was me or Vivian in the end anyway, and I have come too far to give anything up for her. Or anyone. I don't care who's left to kill. I will kill them. I worked my ass off for his and I won't slow down for anything.

I finish a set of push-ups and flex my muscles for the camera, just in case anybody is watching and needs a reminder of why I made this arena my bitch. Or some eye candy. I'm not above that. Besides, it doesn't hurt to be prepared. I just know the Gamemakers are itching for a fight and I'll give them one.

The hallways suddenly light up with an eerie red glow. I idly run my hand up and down the shaft of my spear. Someone's coming; I know the Gamemakers wouldn't mess with their aesthetics for just no reason. I know my district partner is left because I haven't seen her face in the sky at all since I left the Careers and honestly, Olympia is a tough nut to crack. Avonlea would make a much easier target but she isn't dumb either. They're gonna stick together until the end, like all good little Careers do.

I wish I could feel some guilt at facing my old alliance, but I don't.

I'll do whatever I need to do. They want me to kill them? I'll kill them. I ain't a coward.

I see shadows creeping up on the wall and I still, hoping to stay as silent as I can. I have the element of surprise here, and I'm not dumb enough to give up any advantage no matter how small. I flatten my back up against the wall and wait. Just a little bit closer…

Someone steps forward and I make my move.

I launch myself at the nearest body and ram my spear as hard as I can through her stomach. Olympia's eyes go wide and she opens her mouth to scream, only to choke on her blood and spit it out everywhere. Some of it lands in my hair, but I don't care. I throw her dying corpse at Avonlea and send both of them crashing to the ground. I grab some of Vivian's throwing knives and loom over her.

Avonlea pushes Olympia off her and brandishes her sabre at me. I slash at her with a knife but she blocks it with her blade. We both swing around and the weapons clash together again, making an awful noise. I try to use my other knife but she flips her sabre sideways and I can't get an attack in.

I swoop lower in an attempt to stab at her unprotected stomach but Avonlea suddenly spins around and kicks. Hard. Her foot catches me in the side of my head and for a moment everything is blurry.

I'm falling.

As I do, I drive my knife into her right calf. Avonlea yelps and shoves me away from her, but loses her balance and falls on top of me.

The blade of her sabre pierces my skin and gets stuck in my arm.

For a moment, everything hurts like hell. I grab the weapon and try to force it out. No, it can't end here. I refuse to let one little injury stop me. I've suffered worse, I will not-

"Don't touch my weapon!" Avonlea punches me in the jaw, right where she kicked me. A second punch flies into my nose and I hear a sickening crack. Tears flood my eyes. My nose is bleeding. Avonlea yanks the sabre free and I see her shadow over me, but I can't make out any features. All I can recognize is her hands raised above her head.

The last thought I have is of one person who I realize I'm never going to make it back home to. The only person in the world that I truly care about, and now I'm never going to see him again.

I'm sorry, Carlos. I failed you.

Mila Estedon, 16
District 3 Female

The sound of two cannons firing in rapid succession makes me jump. Once my heart stops pounding and the cannons stop echoing in my ears do I realize what that means. I clutch the bottle of poison I was just sponsored close to my chest.

Two tributes are dead. Two Careers are dead. What the…I don't…how?

More importantly, how am I still alive?

I don't know how to feel, Instead, I just slump against the wall and blink back tears. I find myself staring up at the ceiling as if it has any answers for me. I don't know what I'm supposed to do now. People like me don't make it this far. People like Hunter and Loire, they're the ones who have the drive to make it far. But not us nobodies. We're supposed to be cannon fodder. We die on the first day and people are a little sad, but nobody really cares too much.

Because it was inevitable. Why waste effort on a tribute you know is going to die?

Except I'm not dead.

I don't understand. Why did I outlast Hunter, who actually had the balls to something? Why did I outlast Loire, who was so kind and selfless she gave up her own life to spare mine? What is it about me that has me sitting here today when so many others are gone?

It could be that I just got unbelievably lucky. Maybe that was it, which makes me frown. It feels like when I say that in my head, I'm diminishing my own abilities. If I was truly nothing but lucky, I wouldn't have been attacked by that snake yesterday. I wouldn't have lost all of my allies.

So maybe…am I actually a lot stronger than I realize?

"This is crazy," I mutter out loud, to an empty room where nobody else will hear. "I was so scared of everything around me, but somehow I didn't let it all kill me. I just kept surviving, despite everything else. What does that make me?"

I remember how back at home, I thought that being outed and getting chewed out for my grades was the lowest I could go, that I was trapped in a hole I could never climb out of. But I managed. I was able to turn things around, improve my grades, and keep my relationship with Gadge. Why shouldn't this be any different? Why can't I help myself here? Why can't I win?

Is it because I'm too scared to die?

Well, if that is the case, then I should want to win to avoid meeting such a grizzly fate. I don't want to die, that much I know. But I don't know how I'm going to win either. I don't know what chances someone like me stands against a Career, or if I'm just doomed. Such would be the story of one Mila Estedon. The poor thing, the obituaries would say. Always trying her best, but never truly good enough.

Something inside me just snaps.

You know what? No. I'm done with being not good enough. I'm tired of having my efforts invalidated. I survived this far, and that should count for something. I've done what twenty-two other tributes can't. That's something to be celebrated, not brushed off. The fact that I can stay alive when faced with so much adversity.

And I'm…proud. I am proud. Of myself.

I finally have the courage to stand up, hoping I come off as determined and defiant when it probably looks silly, but right now I don't care. "Okay, Gamemakers. It's just me and one other tribute left. What do you want us to do?"

Silence. Of course. I finally have a bit of courage in me and life's trying to pummel it down. Well I won't stand for it. We all know the end is coming anyway. And I'm prepared.

"CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR FINAL TWO TRIBUTES!" I suddenly hear the hidden loudspeakers say. Oh, those sneaky Gamemakers. "WE ARE GLAD TO SEE YOU'VE BOTH COME SO FAR AND HAVE SUCH A FIGHTING SPIRIT STILL LEFT IN YOU. BUT DON'T BE AFRAID TO REST UP TONIGHT, AND GET READY TO FACE YOUR FINAL BATTLE TOMORROW. MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOUR."

Well…I suppose that makes things official. I figure that any advice the Gamemakers have to give me is probably decent advice and take their word. Rest up I shall. I've got a big day ahead of me tomorrow.

It will all be over soon.

4th place: Olympia Bronze, District 2. Speared through the stomach by Arietis.

I love nontraditional Careers, Careers who are a little more cautious and hesitant instead of being all gung ho when it comes to the Games because is honestly seems more realistic. Olympia may have been more of a follower than a leader, but not being the head of such a volatile and unpredictable Career pack was what kept her alive. Thank you for sending her to me, Pi. And congrats on having your non-featured tribute survive the longest!

3rd place: Arietis Rammestein, District 2. Stabbed in the head by Avonlea.

Ah, Arietis. My little shit son. He came from a very traumatic background, but didn't learn to grow from it and instead turned to training as the mot important thing in his life, which ended up destroying the relationship that mattered to him most. He was my attempt to explore the toxic mentalities in the Career districts and how destructive they may be to the kids growing up with them, and I hope I did a decent enough job. Rest in peace, Aries.

FINAL TWO: MILA ESTEDON VS AVONLEA HEADDEN

And after so long, we've finally made it to our finale! Which lady to you think will take home the victory? Will it be Mila, the ultimate underdog who kept surviving against all odds? Or will it be Avonlea, the Career nobody that turned into the frontrunner?

Sponsoring is now closed! Thank you to everyone who sent in a gift, your participation in the story was much appreciated!

Enjoy the rest of your day and I'll see you all when it comes to the finale,

-Vr